Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there who qualify!  

I took Mom some lilacs earlier today.  Lilacs are really big around here and the Lilac Festival is in full swing in the city.

I also made her up another tea cozy.  According to Tea Cozies, "A naked teapot will never do!"  This book is just full of patterns that will make you laugh out loud.  There's probably going to be more of them coming off the needles, they're just that fun to do up.

There has been some time spent with the spinning wheel(s), too.  I finished the latest batch of samples, washed and labeled them. Old dogs can be taught new tricks...labeling your skeins with what they are and when you spun them really does make life much easier when it comes time to actually use them in a project.  

Our spinning guild, Genesee Valley Handspinner's Guild, had a 2-part program the last few months:  making our own chair pads from The Shepherd's Rug.  I finally finished mine up tonight.  I was unable to be there for the how to braid workshop, so my braids were a bit on the small side after felting.  The plus side of that is that I had lots and lots of braid, so I made two chair pads, then sewed them together around the edge.  When I got done, it occurred to me that I had just made a high-end sit-upon.  Those of you who were girl scouts will remember making those.

Last night, I couldn't resist taking this picture.  As you can see, it was excitement plus around here; from the left are Bubba, Gypsy and Smokey.  Not pictured are the napping elsewhere Trouble and Sadie.

New Beginnings

Spring has finally sprung around here.  I sincerely hope that I will not see another snowflake until at least October!  It's supposed to be quite warm this weekend, up around 80F.  The day the leaves all come out on the trees is always amazing to me.  One day, trees are all bare branches and the next they're covered in fresh green leaves.  Maybe that will happen this weekend.

Yesterday, I visited a friend of mine.  Her guard llama kept an eye on me while I fed this little guy.  His name is Homer.  I'd never fed a lamb before.  He went right to it and very efficiently emptied his bottle.  Every time I think of his little tail wiggling at the speed of light, I have to smile.

Here are some of his pasture mates.  Linda's sheep are all Shetlands and she is a very good shepherd.  The wool from them is just a delight to spin!

The pillows that were started the other day are finished.   Cutting my first real project off my own loom was pretty cool.  They are a bit smaller than I thought they would be; I still need to work on my planning skills for weaving projects.  

There is an antique show this weekend, so I'm hoping that at least some of them will go home with someone else and some green will come home in my pocket!

Note:  Very slow at the antique show, but all of these attractive pillows are available on my brand new Etsy shop...link is on the left.

Finished Stuff

Hopefully, I'm getting past the deadly combination of "I have lots of time to do ______", "There's always tomorrow to get _____ done.", "I should probably do _____ instead."  Pick your phrase/excuse; they're all about the same.

Finishing items on the to-do list is rather rewarding, especially if there are few fun items on it.  DH, DD and I have gotten quite a few tasks done at my Mom's new (and old) home.  I've been helping DH with some of his jobs and getting a bit of a start on outside clean up on nice days.  

It's supposed to be rainy/chilly tomorrow, so I'll do the normal job hunt thing first, then I'll see about getting some seeds started.  It's a little late, but only by about a week.  

The weaving class ended last week (sigh).  The teacher, Joyce, was just wonderful.  The perfect combination of knowledge, encouragement and teaching skills.  My first project were some mug rugs.

Another project that had been hanging around for awhile was to do something with a friend's horse's mane. Yikes!  The stuff is not a pleasure to spin.  Even combed, it is coarse and it doesn't really want to be spun.   Bits stick out and are quite prickly.  I stuck with it long enough for a small skein of singles that I steamed to set the twist.  Then I used a Weavette loom to come up with a small square.  That and some stash fabric adds up to a small purse.  

There is a small antique show next weekend, so I thought I would see if some handwoven pillows would go over well.  I've got the loom all warped and part of one done.  All of the yarn is Kitchen Cotton out of stash.  Might as well use that to test the waters.  

A Belated Easter

I don't know what it is lately (and can't even blame it on the job upheaval).  I just can't seem to get around to posting regularly anymore.  There is a routine, of sorts, around here.  I spend the morning job hunting, applying and following up on any leads. 

 The rest of the day is spent at various activities that often include helping my DH out with his jobs, some sort of fibery stuff (carding, spinning, knitting, weaving, even a bit of sewing), outside stuff (if nice enough to be out...spring is dawdling, at least as far as warmer temperatures are concerned) and even, occasionally, a bit of housekeeping.  

My DD suggested that I should consider some self-employment of some kind and I find the idea really quite interesting.  I've been giving quite a few ideas some thought and there are some that are coming to the top.  I'm thinking that 2 or 3 of these would work out...simultaneously, too.  None of them would be a big enough "bang" to cover household expenses by itself, but added up, they might just work out.  Still mulling over the possibilities.

At any rate, Happy Belated Easter to all of you from the Easter Beaster!

One guppy got a lot bigger!

In many areas, things are working out pretty good.  Some are fun, some not so much. 

A bit ago, we had quite the thaw, followed by some pretty chilly nights.  This gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of ice stuck to the landscape at a level much higher than the current level of the water.  I don't know why, but I always think that's kind of neat.  The geese?  I suspect that they are local birds, or at least ones that don't go far from the area.  Earlier this week, I saw some really, really big flocks of geese heading north, so that's a pretty good sign of spring to come.

Not so much includes paying the bills, getting those medical appointments that you need done (and don't want to do) scheduled and gone to, filing income taxes, cleaning, etc.  

The really big guppy?  Well, I got let go from my job a few weeks ago.  Quite suddenly and unexpectedly.  Not sure which is worse, knowing beforehand that you're on the block or no warning at all.  I spend the mornings job hunting:  searching postings and following up on previous applications.  No responses as yet.  I may need to rethink the kinds of jobs that I am applying for and also get signed up with a few temp. agencies. 

Fun stuff includes learning to weave, stash diving for spinning fiber, and knitting.  My hubby found the loom last year and it came home with us.  I had a friend go over it and she let me know what I needed to start weaving and strongly suggested that I take a class.  I listened up and started the class a few weeks ago.  Hubby made me a few weaving tools and some shuttles, so I can practice at home, too.  

I've found that spending a fair amount of time with 

fiber is helping me cope.  I think that it has something to do with knowing that I can do something well and actually doing it, rather than beating myself up over things that I have no control over.   I figure it's way cheaper than therapy!